The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today unanimously accepted the $99.5 million award from California’s Proposition 1 Bond funding to build a Behavioral Health Wellness Campus that will serve as a model for the state. It will provide mental-health and addiction services in one location for more than 20,000 residents ranging from unhoused veterans, to working-age adults and justice-involved residents working to overcome addictions. 

Proposition 1 was approved by California voters in March 2024 authorizing more than $6 billion in bonds to build new mental-health treatment facilities and supportive housing. 

Additionally San Diego County and the City of San Diego will dedicate $14.5 million from their Behavioral Health Impact Fund to expand operations in the region. This local contribution will help accelerate the project. 

“This investment will help reduce wait times, prevent crises instead of just reacting to them, and make it easier for people to access the care they need in one location,” said Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer.

Now that the Board has accepted the funds, Lawson-Remer said County leaders will begin planning project timelines, contracting, and community outreach. Projects will roll out in phases with input from local residents and providers. The campus will be located on the site of the former County Health Services Complex on Rosecrans Street. 

 Lawson-Remer said today’s action is a major step forward for many reasons: 

• More treatment capacity: The grant will allow the county to treat more people with serious mental illness and substance use disorders.
• Local access: Improved and new facilities will bring care closer to neighborhoods that need it most.
• Faster help: Crisis stabilization and outpatient enhancements aim to reduce reliance on emergency rooms and jail for behavioral health crises.

 The project is estimated at $210 million and is designed to create a comprehensive hub linking mental-health treatment, substance-use recovery services, crisis stabilization, and outpatient care.

The proposed campus would include:

• Crisis Stabilization Unit — Short-term therapeutic care for adults experiencing acute mental-health crises, helping reduce emergency-department visits and jail admissions
  
  
• Mental Health Rehabilitation Center — Long-term, 24/7 residential treatment for people living with serious mental illness
  
  
• Social Rehabilitation Facility / Peer Respite — Voluntary, peer-led recovery support in a home-like setting
  
  
• Adult Residential Substance-Use Treatment Facility — Medically monitored recovery services for individuals addressing drug or alcohol dependence
  
  

Outpatient Community Mental Health Clinic — Preventive and ongoing care, including therapy, case management, and peer support programs